Sol-gel autocombustion synthesis of zinc oxide foam decorated with holes and its use as acetic acid gas sensor at sub-ppm level

Lately, only few successful gas sensors, especially those based on the sensing material of zinc oxide (ZnO), have been specifically designed for the detection of acetic acid. Herein, a new gas sensor aimed at acetic acid was designed employing a novel ZnO foam as the sensing material, which was prepared by a simple sol-gel auto-combustion method. The foam presents a novel architecture decorated with numerous holes, and the designed gas sensor exhibits superior sensing performances toward acetic acid, i.e., a high response, sub-ppm detection, excellent selectivity, fine repeatability. These superior sensing performances could be attributed to the massive decorated holes, which significantly facilitates the gas diffusion and transportation.